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Johann Sebastian Bach

Listener's Guide - Indexed by Rating

A Quick Word About the Ratings

I've rated the cantatas on a scale of 1-3 and, in certain cases, qualified these ratings with either a star ("*") or a plus ("+"). Any rating of 1 or 2 is a positive rating, 3 being reserved for those cantatas which I have found uninteresting. A plus means that one movement (or occasionally two movements) is especially outstanding and had the rest of the cantata been at that level, it would have gained a higher overall rating. Nota bene (i) There may be a quite outstanding single movement in a "2+" cantata. (ii) A "3+" rating means that there is a single interesting movement in an otherwise undistinguished cantata.

A star is reserved for those cantatas that I have found especially attractive. My equivalent of a Penguin Guide Rosette, I guess.

Disclaimer: Ratings are meaningless. The only point of this exercise is to record my opinion of which cantatas to approach first. You'll soon notice that I'm easily swayed by melody, by choral fugues or by a neat flute or oboe line.

However, if you feel strongly that I have misjudged a work, please do get in touch (sec@hplb.hpl.hp.com)
and I'll revisit the review, come revision time.